Blog

External hackers and insider threats. Customer expectations and government mandates.

Data protection is a complex challenge, and it demands attention at every level of an organization. PKWARE's in-house experts are here to help you stay up to date on best practices, emerging trends, and new resources for enterprise data security.

We’ve seen it in countless horror movies. The good guys, on the run from a homicidal maniac, barricade themselves inside a house. They booby-trap the yard, seal off the doors, and board up the windows, only to discover that the killer is already INSIDE THE HOUSE.

As familiar as the plotline might be in slasher films, it’s even more common in the world of cybersecurity. Organizations spend millions on firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and other perimeter defenses, only to find that their sensitive data is being compromised by their own employees and business partners.

Consider a typical AES encryption key: 256 binary digits, arranged into one of an unthinkably large number of possible combinations. You feel safe using that key, because you know that it would take every computer in the world, working nonstop for longer than the age of the universe, to produce that exact same combination of digits. Assuming you keep it protected, the only people who will ever know the key are the ones who are supposed to have it.

But have you ever stopped to wonder where exactly that combination of digits came from? The people trying to steal your data may be wondering the same thing.

Six months ago, the New York State Department of Financial Services formally adopted a set of cybersecurity requirements for banks, insurance companies, and other financial services companies that operate in New York. These requirements, commonly known as NYCRR 500, represent the first real cybersecurity law in the United States. After an initial 180-day transition period, several of the law's provisions are now in effect.

Even when you know you’re doing things right, it’s nice to get external validation, especially when it comes from experts in the field. That’s why we’re thrilled to report that PKWARE is listed three separate times in the latest Gartner Hype Cycle Reports for Threat-Facing Technologies.

The Gartner report, which focuses on technologies that protect enterprise IT infrastructure against advanced cybersecurity threats, lists PKWARE by name in three categories: format-preserving encryption, enterprise key management, and database encryption.

The last two years have been challenging ones for organizations that do business in the UK. Last spring, when the UK was still part of the EU, the European Parliament adopted the General Data Protection Regulation, marking a fundamental shift in Europe's rules for collecting and processing personal data. Just two months later, UK voters passed the Brexit referendum, leaving companies and individuals in confusion as to which data protection laws would apply.

Now, with the recently-announced Data Protection Bill, the UK government is taking steps to define the country's post-Brexit approach to data protection. As expected, the new law will implement most of the GDPR's provisions regarding individual rights and corporate responsibilities. However, the UK will deviate from the GDPR in at least a few areas, potentially creating a second set of requirements for companies that operate both in the UK and on the continent.

On July 11, we launched Smartcrypt Data Discovery, one of our most significant product releases in recent history. With this enhancement, our already-unique Smartcrypt platform now lets customers take an entirely new approach to protecting their sensitive data.

Deep Root Analytics, a data analysis firm hired by the Republican National Committee to profile voters during the 2016 presidential campaign, left sensitive information on nearly 200 million American citizens on an unsecured web server. The data—more than a terabyte in all—included potential voters’ home addresses, phone numbers, and birthdates, as well as details on their religious preferences and ethnic backgrounds. Anyone with the URL for the server could download the files without needing to enter so much as a password.

A complicated—and ultimately unnecessary—lawsuit is winding its way through the California courts this year, as Waymo and Uber clash over stolen trade secrets. Here are a couple of undisputed facts: a Waymo employee stole 14,000 documents from Waymo servers pertaining to self-driving car technologies, and Uber hired the former Waymo employee. Now Waymo accuses Uber of using those stolen documents, and wants the courts to shut down its self-driving car research. Unfortunately for Waymo, the courts ruled that the stolen documents don’t meet the standards for trade secrets—and that Uber can keep moving forward on self-driving car research.

Categories

Archive

About PKWARE

PKWARE solutions help organizations meet their data security and regulatory compliance goals. With more than 35,000 customers and over 30 years in enterprise data protection, PKWARE has experience and capabilities no one else can match.